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Movie Reviews: Jacked-up fairy tale is a giant disappointment

By: Jared Rutecki

The Columbus Dispatch - March 01, 2013 10:39 AM

Movies reinterpreting fairy tales have existed for slightly less time than the written fantasy
genre itself. A slightly newer take on reinvented fairy tale is the kind made in the macabre style
of director Tim Burton.

Jack the Giant Slayer is the latest example. The movie, directed by Bryan Singer, darkly
revisits the classic story of
Jack and the Beanstalk.

The special effects create a world constructed differently from the fairy tale the audience
remembers from childhood. The biggest shortcoming in the film is that the script gives its talented
cast, including Ian McShane, Christopher McQuarrie and Stanley Tucci, little material with which to
work.

"There are moments of Shrek-like
playfulness in the carnival set up at the base of the stalk as our heroes and villains
climb it. But the vast array of writers...can’t find anything funny for McShane to do or say,"
Roger Moore
said in his review. "And the hilarious Bill Nighy is lost inside an expensively
animated two-headed behemoth."

Moore's most stinging comparison sums it up nicely: "It’s
The Princess Bride without the laughs."

Easily offended moviegoers would probably be best served skipping
21 & Over, a college-aged take on
The Hangover. Those who enjoy low-brow comedies about drink- and drug-fueled hijinks,
however, will feel right at home.

The story is cut from the same cloth as others in the category (i.e. the
Harold & Kumar series,
Animal House,
Superbad,
Dazed and Confused and more). Two friends take a third friend on a journey for his 21st
birthday complete with nudity, drugs and booze.

If you aren't taken aback by this type of a movie, there should be plenty to like about 21 &
Over, according to critic Peter Harlaub.

"Once you suspend both disbelief and the moral high ground,
21 & Over is rewarding. Writer-directors Jon Lucas and Scott Moore find a nice balance
between the over-the-top high jinks and an emotional core — which unexpectedly crystallizes
relatively late in the movie, "Hartlaub
said in his review.

More reviews

There are moments of
Shrek-like playfulness in the carnival set up at the base of the stalk as our heroes and
villains climb it. But the vast array of writers (Christopher McQuarrie among them) can’t find
anything funny for McShane to do or say. And the hilarious Bill Nighy is lost inside an expensively
animated two-headed behemoth. - See more at:
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/life_and_entertainment/2013/03/01/fractured-fairy-tale.html#sthash.uYtFR5tc.dpuf

There are moments of
Shrek-like playfulness in the carnival set up at the base of the stalk as our heroes and
villains climb it. But the vast array of writers (Christopher McQuarrie among them) can’t find
anything funny for McShane to do or say. And the hilarious Bill Nighy is lost inside an expensively
animated two-headed behemoth. - See more at:
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/life_and_entertainment/2013/03/01/fractured-fairy-tale.html#sthash.uYtFR5tc.dpuf